Sirius isn't in their dorm room. Or on the quidditch pitch, or even in the library (though that last place was unlikely anyway). Remus has just about given up, putting his hands in his pockets and hanging his head, when he feels something.

The Marauders Map! It was in his pocket the whole time! He quickly pulls it out and mutters, I solemnly swear that I am up to no good, scanning all of Hogwarts for the black-haired boy he's looking for.

There! At the... Forbidden Forest? What in Merlin's name is Sirius doing at the edge of the forest?

Remus hides away the map and dashes through the long halls of Hogwarts. The high ceilings and flying buttresses give the castle an even more magical feel to them, and Remus imagines he can feel the magic in the walls pouring into his heart as he gets more and more excited to see Sirius. But when he bursts out of the castle doors, he screeches to a halt. It's raining. A lot. Remus casts a quick umbrella charm and holds his wand upwards before continuing his sprint across the soaked grounds.

He can't see more than 20 paces in front of him, so he pulls the map back out to see what direction he needs to be going in. Seeing Sirius' little name on the map not too far from him gives his legs the extra burst of energy they need, and finally, Sirius comes into view.

And it's not a pretty sight. Sirius is in a t-shirt and jeans - Remus' jeans actually - and he's convulsing of cold. He's soaked from head-to-toe, water dripping from his shoulder-length hair and the tip of his nose, which would be rather adorable if the situation weren't so... not adorable.

"Sirius! There you are!"

Sirius turns towards Remus in shock. His eyes and nose are pink and puffy and there are tear-streaks on his cheeks.

"Remus? What are you doing?" His voice cracks.

"The map! I- I found you- and then I was like- 'why's he out here'? And then it was raining and so- and then I realized- well, before that-" Remus pants, out of breath. He realizes he doesn't actually know what to do now that he's standing in front of the boy he- he loves. The boy that he loves.

"Remus..."

"No, wait! Listen! I get it now!"

Sirius furrows his brows warily. "Get what?"

"Why... why you thought we couldn't be friends."

The silence is filled with nothing but the sound of pouring rain. Remus steps closer to Sirius to cover him with the umbrella charm, but that also means their faces are now unusually close.

"You... do?"

"Yeah. I mean, it took Lily hitting me in the head with a rather hard pillow and a bit of shouting for me to get it, but now I do. And erm- if you don't mind- I'd like to tell you something."

Sirius looks down at his feet, nodding.

"Er- you said it's too hard to be around me because you thought that, er- that I didn't- you know. Well, er- I do. You were interpreting things correctly. I'm just really, really thick. Like, incredibly stupid. I literally had to get hit over the head to see it."

Sirius looks up, a corner of his mouth turning up just a bit.

"And what exactly is... it?"

Remus takes a deep breath. "I don't think we can be friends either, Sirius."

Sirius' face falls. "Wha- I thought you just said-"

"Because... I want to be more than friends." He pauses and then wonders if the implications might not be clear enough. "With you. Obviously. Because I'm telling you that. I just thought maybe I'd clarify, in case that wasn't clear-"

In Remus' babbling, he hadn't noticed the smile that had spread across Sirius' face, and suddenly he's cut off by the dark-haired boy standing up on his tip-toes and kissing the taller boy right on the lips.

Remus feels cold, wet fingers snake around the back of his neck, pulling his head down a bit. He matches the kiss and wraps his arms tenderly around Sirius' waist, dropping the umbrella charm temporarily, soaking both boys to the bone, but now not even that can stop the warmth spreading through Remus Lupin's chest as he kisses the boy he loves.

Tall of a sudden, he pulls away, resting his forehead against Sirius'. "I love you," he whispers.

Sirius' grin is bright enough to shine away the rain and he says, "I love you, too, Moony."

Remus kisses him quick once again and then puts the umbrella charm back up.

"As romantic as kissing in the rain is, I'm freezing. Let's go inside," Remus says, taking Sirius' hand with his free one.

"Absolutely. Thank god I didn't go into the forest as Padfoot in this weather."

"Why would you have done that?"

Sirius hesitates. "Er- I was... sad. When I get sad I like to turn into Padfoot because it makes processing emotion a lot easier. Less complicated thoughts and all that fun stuff."

"I'm sorry, Sirius. Really, I swear I didn't know that you liked me! I hadn't even acknowledged that I like you... I wonder what else I could realize if Lily hit me over the head with a pillow more often..."

"Let's not find out," Sirius laughs. "Though I should thank her for that."

"She'll probably just be grateful that we're finally together. According to her, we've been in love since second year, just too shy - or stupid - to act on it."

"Hmm... that's probably accurate. I don't like to admit it, but I don't think Lily's ever been wrong in her life!"

Remus smiles. "Probably not."

Sirius stops. "You... do actually like me though, right? This isn't another prank or something?" he asks a bit bashfully.

Remus stops and faces Siris, looking at him like he's the whole universe. "Sirius, I love everything about you. Every hair on your head, every freckle on your face, the way your eyes reflect storms so strong and beautiful. I- I love the curve of your lips when you smile, and your infectious laughter, and your heart, and every scar on your body and in your soul.

"You're perfect, Sirius. You're my North Star, and I love you so, so much. I promise."

The smile on Sirius' face and the tears in his eyes are enough to give Remus that funny warm feeling again, and his heart pounds just a bit faster.

"I love you, too."